Beijing LIH Olivia’s Place Pediatric Clinic puts China on the map

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It’s possibly the most exciting clinic-opening of the year, because Beijing LIH Olivia’s Place Pediatric Clinic’s mission is unprecedented in China: it strives to bring high quality, developmental and behavioral pediatrics and pediatric therapy to local and expat children. Americans Nelson and Quynh Chow are the founders of the facility, partnering with Chinese investment firm and consultant group LIH (Long-term Investment in Healthcare). The Chows are the parents of a daughter and son; Olivia (age 7) and Peyton (5). Olivia, who has Down Syndrome, is the namesake and inspiration for both the new Beijing LIH Olivia’s Place and Shanghai-based Olivia’s Corner. The Beijing branch of Olivia’s Place, Eliott’s Corner, will join forces with LIH Olivia’s Place in its new 980sqm facility. We sit down with Nelson Chow to find out more about the new clinic, its initiatives, and the necessity for raising the status of therapy services in China.

Tell us more about the mission of LIH Olivia’s Place.
We’re doing this to bring about therapy change in China. We recognize that a lot of expats have a choice. They could go back to their home country. It’s the locals who don’t have any support, and because of that, they lose all hope. That’s why a lot of children get abandoned, why there are so many special needs kids in orphanages here, and why a lot of kids are locked in the house. There are stigmas involved because there are no services. We thought, if we’re going to do this, and we’re going to have so many foreign therapists on our staff, they need to be here for a reason other than therapy; they must be here to actually help influence and change the [state of therapy]in China so that millions of kids China can eventually get services just like our kids do.

Having a mission like that, if we really want to change the way therapy is being done in China and to be able to offer these kinds of services, then we knew we had to be a model clinic; to be high quality, [provide] supervision for everyone, continuous education, and all the things that an organization provides to actually better the individual. It shouldn’t be just individuals all put together; it should be a whole organization that represents everyone and allows everyone to do their best.